Hi all--
 
Last Sunday we visited a pet store and fell in love with a 9 wk old male
dark sable kit.  We brought him home today (Thursday), named him Mordacai
and introduced him to Pepper (male 4# BEW) and Harley (female 35# dog) and
it was all wonderful!  We let Mordacai and Harley sniff each other through
the carrier door and Harley wagged and wagged and wagged.  (And we thought
she'd be mad at us <g>) Then we woke up Pepper.  Whoo-boy!  He dived into
the carrier with Mordacai and they sniffed and rolled and tumbled and
sniffed some more.  No hissing, no squeaking, just silent joy.  Pepper:
"Hey!  Are you really here?  Here to stay?  Really?  Cool!" Mordacai: "I'm
here!  I am!  I had 7 siblings but one by one they left, but now I have you!
I'm so happy to be here!"
 
Poor Mordy had no chance to even check out the house on his own--Pepper was
at his side, pouncing on him and rolling and dooking the whole time.  They
disappeared under the couch for almost a whole hour--silently getting to
know one another.
 
Pepper finally got exhausted and went to bed, so Mordy spent some time
harassing Harley.  He's never seen a dog before I don't think, so in his
mind what could there possibly be to be afraid of?  Good thing Harley is
crazy about ferts!  We've had Pepper since Sept, and he still avoids Harley
as much as possible.  Not Mordy.  Oh no, he plants his little 9 wk old feet
and stands his ground!  Too cute.  Mordy isn't too much smaller than Pepper,
but Pepper sure weighs a whole lot more!
 
Whew.  Mordacai is a Marshall ferret, with a wonderful temperament and the
longest, softest coat I've ever had the pleasure to touch.  Well, almost had
the pleasure.  He was very cuddly at the store, but very wiggly since we got
him home.  I've never had a kit before, so this is a first.  His energy is
boundless.  He will *not* go to sleep unless I lock him in the cage.  And
then he goes right to sleep without argument.  I put him in sleepy Pepper's
cage about an hour before I left for work (I wanted to be sure they wouldn't
fight while I was gone) and they curled right up together as if they've
*always* been cage mates.  So now I have two ferrets who'd rather sleep on
the floor than in the hammock.  Weird.
 
Mordy won't even try ferretone.  Totally uninterested.  Which stinks because
his nails are long and sharp and really need to be clipped.  He'll eat
raisins, but only if he gets to pick then out of the can himself!  He also
was happy to accept a tiny bit of pumpkin pie from my boyfriend Dave.  I'm a
bit concerned that he hasn't eaten any food yet, but he was so busy
exploring that perhaps he just didn't take the time.  I'm going to listen
for extra munching sounds during the night.  He had Kay-Tee at the pet
store, and I'd hate to have to go buy some of that crappy food just to get
him to eat .  .  .  but if that's what it takes I guess I can mix some of
that with the better food.
 
Pepper was so tired tonight that he curled up and went to sleep in my lap.
That's an absolute first.  When I had to get up I put him on Dave's chest,
and he stayed asleep, another first!  I don't think he's sick though--just
worn out from all the excitement.  He's got his little *bored ferret*
routine down pat, and we really messed it up today, now didn't we?
 
I have to talk about the pet store Mordacai came from.  It's one of the only
stores here that sells ferrets, it's privately owned, and they're terrific.
The ferrets in the store have the three level cage, with litter box, food
and water, sleeping sacks, a hammock, a cuddly tube, and lots of ferret safe
toys.  Ok, maybe not quite enough room for 8 ferts, but at least when people
see the ferrets they see what kind of cage is best for them.  No cedar chips
or anything.  And when you buy a ferret there, you get a nice discount if
you buy that sort of cage at the same time.  Also, they handle the kits like
crazy and let them run around the store after hours.
 
They didn't ask me questions or tell me much about ferrets, but I visit the
store often and the owner knows I've been looking for a ferret to be
Pepper's companion.  When I wondered aloud how Mordy and Pepper would get
along, she offered many of the tips I've seen here for introductions.  That
seems like a good sign.  I just want to stress that there are some quality
pet shops out there--look for the privately owned ones rather than the
chains.  This is a small store dealing mostly with birds like hand-fed
Macaws, it's low-key and the owners are more than happy to answer questions
and chat about the animals.  We visited when they didn't have any ferrets to
sell, and even then the owner was happy to get the cage they use out of
storage so Dave could see how to make one like it.  Very nice, knowledgable
people.
 
Ok, I've yakked enough--it's time for sleep for me, too.
 
--Sherri  (What the heck *is* a sugar glider?)
--Pepper (man oh man, this kit is running my butt off.  Time for a  . . . .
zzzzzzzzz.)
--Mordacai (Wow, there's lots of playtime here, I may never sleep again!)
--Harley (Another one?  Well, ok, I can handle it--Pepper doesn't like to
play with me, maybe Mordacai will. <wag, wag, wag> )
[Posted in FML issue 1797]